Seekers and Speakers of Truth

This last week I had the blessed opportunity to spend some time at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa… the seminary that I graduated from three years ago. Amongst the various lectures that I was able to get in on, one in particular nabbed my attention as I was considering our Gospel for this Sunday.

This last week I had the blessed opportunity to spend some time at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa… the seminary that I graduated from three years ago. Amongst the various lectures that I was able to get in on, one in particular nabbed my attention as I was considering our Gospel for this Sunday.

Sociologists, researchers whose focus is on the development, structure, and functioning of human society, have recognized a new trend in our society that is, to me at least, a bit disturbing. They say that our society is entering what is becoming known as the “Post-Truth Era.” Oxford Dictionary defines it as Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.

In other words, rather than relying on facts to help us decide what is right and wrong, we go with our gut instincts.

Some of you who have friended me on Facebook may have noticed an image I posted a few days ago of our three boys completely zonked out in our hotel bed in Iowa. Mere minutes earlier, there had been grand proclamations that sleep was not needed! There was the strong belief that they were most assuredly not tired… and there was no need what-so-ever for a nap despite the evidence seen in weary eyes and changed attitudes. Well, the final proof was in the photo. Their expectation of not needing sleep did not line up with reality. And, I’ll admit, that I too find that my own expectations do not always meet up with reality.

Unfortunately, we don’t always like to trust the facts and understand the signs around us for what they are. And in society today, both in the United States as well as throughout many other parts of the world, we are seeing this shift into the post-truth era. We are seeing political parties and individuals cherry-pick information to support their own opinions while dismissing the facts that might create tension. Rather than seeking truth, society is becoming comfortable with seeking what hits us emotionally instead.

And it’s not that this is a new phenomenon… but it has a much louder voice than it ever has before. Highly esteemed news sources such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more are changing the way people think. A Meme (in other words a provocative picture with a caption of some sort) appears on Facebook and, if it hits us just right emotionally, we’ll post it on without ever reviewing where the information was originally gathered from.

I recently came across such a Facebook post where an individual was angrily waving the red flag on CNN who was in the midst of covering the news of Muslims being killed at Christchurch, New Zealand. The Facebook post had a picture from Egypt with very obviously Christian coffins and women wailing around them in an Egyptian Coptic Church. According to the post, CNN was providing wall to wall coverage on the attacks against Muslims but was refusing to cover the story about Christians who were killed on a bus in Egypt by ISIS. It was a claim of extraordinarily biased and unfair and reporting.

I was curious and, after two minutes of research, I discovered that CNN had indeed covered the attack in Egypt quite thoroughly… but that it had happened last November and was now off the news feeds. After pointing him toward the news articles from CNN which actually used the same photo that showed up in the meme, the individual responded by saying that he just wanted things to be fair. At the time I challenged whether he truly had a desire to be fair… however in hindsight I believe I was mistaken.

I now believe that the person I was confronting truly did desire for the news coverage to be fair. I believe he holds a yearning for honest reporting that he and the rest of the world can trust. And from his perspective, CNN is extraordinarily unfair in its reporting. The image of those Coptic Christian Caskets with the tag line that CNN was refusing to broadcast about Christian deaths but would report on Muslims deaths fit in with what he wanted to believe.

Now let me be clear that he did not create the misleading information. But the post, while not factual, made an emotional appeal to him. It fit with what he believed. And so, likely without a second thought, he forwarded the truly fake news along because he wanted the rest of the world to also be aware of what he perceived as evidence of the unfairness of CNN.

This is but one an example of the post-truth era in our society today, I could share several others as I am sure you can as well. But in this new era, I believe it of particular importance that we be seekers and speakers of truth. And that means being skeptical about the information that we hear whether its through mainstream media networks such as CNN, Fox News, NPR, BBC even… or if we’re talking about Facebook posts or even just hearing the gossip down at Kumback (the bar).

Being skeptical is important. And, one of the most compelling reasons for me to believe in Christianity is that our scriptures were written with stories about skeptics, for skeptics.

Let’s look at the Gospel of John:

20:1-10 In the first ten verses of John chapter 20, Jesus had died just three days earlier. Mary had come to the tomb on that Easter morning and discovered it was empty. She ran away and stumbles into two disciples, Peter and John. And she tells them that the grave is empty… Jesus’ body is missing. And so the two disciples take off running to look for themselves.

One person’s word was not good enough on its own—they chose to seek out the truth for themselves and once they see the empty tomb, THEN they believe that Jesus is missing. And in fact in verse 9 there is a note from John that these two disciples STILL didn’t understand that Jesus was risen from the dead. They just know that his body is missing.

A little bit later we see Mary Magdalene again near the tomb in the garden, and Jesus Christ reveals himself to her for the first time. And its interesting here because she doesn’t have an instant reaction to him. We don’t see her suddenly dancing around in joy when she hears his voice. Instead, she is in the midst of mourning that Jesus’ body is gone. Her assumption is that someone has taken it. It’s not until half-way through the conversation that she even recognizes the guy standing right in front of her. After she finally recognizes who Jesus is, then she goes and tells the disciples.

Then, starting at today’s gospel, still chapter 20 but verse 19, the disciples, who had heard Mary’s story that Jesus is alive are locked in a room together. And I think its important to note what they are NOT doing here. Despite hearing Mary’s story, they are NOT out looking for Jesus. Peter and John had already confirmed that the body was gone—they knew that. But don’t you think that if they had believed in Mary’s story that Jesus was alive and talking that they would have been scouring around that garden where Mary had her encounter?

Instead, they lock themselves behind closed doors making sure that no one can get to them. They are not seeking the truth, but they aren’t willing to believe Mary enough to risk their lives looking for a phantom Jesus either. And it is in the midst of their doubt and skepticism that Jesus appears among them. And isn’t until the moment as Christ says the words “Peace be with you” and shows his scars that disciples become overjoyed and filled with belief. And, of course, all of the disciples believe, and we have a happily ever after… right?

Eh… not quite. So one of the disciples doesn’t quite make it to the roll call here. And it’s interesting because we don’t actually know what Thomas was doing. Maybe he was down at the market picking up supper from McDonalds from the Denarius Menu. I’m pretty sure they didn’t have the dollar menu back then. Or, maybe, Thomas was actually out at the garden by the tomb, looking for Jesus while the rest of disciples were hiding. We really don’t know. But what we do know is that he wasn’t with his fellow disciples and that when he returned to them that he refused to believe that Jesus was risen from the dead based only on their word.

You see, Thomas isn’t just a doubter… he’s a skeptic. He wants to see and experience Christ for himself before he is ready to proclaim that Good Word to others. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” He wants to do the research for himself.

And, honestly, I can’t say that I blame him. If I were in his shoes and had just seen my master and friend die three days earlier, I’d want proof that he was back too. I’d want to make sure that this news coverage was fair and not biased based on what the other disciples wanted to believe. Maybe they were trying to play a trick on him or going through some mass hysteria. Whatever the reason, Thomas continues to doubt.

It’s not until a full week later that Jesus appears again and shows himself to Thomas. In Bishop Mike’s recent “On the Way” blog post, he talked about living in 6 minutes of fear and yearning for that 7th minute where we remember that Christ is with us. If you hadn’t a chance to read it yet, I’d encourage it.

For Thomas he faced 6 days of doubt. 6 days where his fellow disciples were probably egging him on, trying to convince him of Jesus’ resurrection. 6 days of perhaps hoping and wanting to believe, but being unable to. He remained a skeptic… until that 7th day. And on that 7th day it isn’t that Thomas suddenly has a change of heart… it’s that Christ meets Thomas where he is… just as Christ met the disciples where they were, locked in a room cowering away from the world doubting the words of Mary… and just as Christ met Mary where she was, alone and crying in the garden for fear that they had taken Jesus’ body away.

The story we have here in John is not about Thomas’ difficulty to overcome doubt. It’s about every single person who was close to Jesus during his ministry having a hard time realizing that he has come back from the dead. Each of them, skeptics in some way. Each of them presenting reasons to have doubt and disbelief… and each of those doubts and disbeliefs overcome not through their own ability—but through Christ’s actions.

Finally, our gospel nears its close with the profession of faith from Thomas as he sees and hears Jesus Christ in person. “My Lord and My God.” My Lord, he recognizes Jesus as his teacher, his master… the one whose ministry he had been following all these years… and “My God” for the first time perhaps truly recognizing that Jesus is indeed God incarnate… the Holy One who was made flesh into the world.

Our scriptures were written about skeptics, for skeptics. Today we heard the story through the Gospel of John. And within our Bibles, we have three more testimonies from three different people about that resurrection. And what’s particularly great about that is that absolutely none of those four gospels agree with each other concerning the facts of everything that occurred after Jesus’ death. And yet, as the Bible was being put together they held all four of those differing testimonies together… all with a slightly different understanding of the details—but all pointing to Christ crucified and risen from the grave. It’s a good message to read for skeptics like myself.

The good news in all of scripture we see God continuing to meet skeptics where they are. And even today, God continues to reveal Godself to you and to me. Perhaps we don’t get to have the experience of seeing Jesus Christ scars and all right in front of us. But we do see God revealed through one another and at times, even through ourselves to the world around us.

In this Post-Truth era… the Truth that is Christ is still very much alive and active. I encourage you to keep your eyes open. Be seekers and speakers of the truth as if the world depends on it… because it does.

Peace be with you. Amen.

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